Zombie Cafe can get boring if you don't play the game to its full potential. Having and utilizing lots of active friends is the key to maximizing the fun of the game. You can also earn extra cash and extra experience as a bonus!

Here's a short list of tips and other nonsense that will help you maximize the benefits of having friends:

1) Don't have more than 50 Game Center friends. If you have more than 50, Zombie Cafe will not refresh the ingame friends list. Newly added friends will be able to view your cafe and place orders, but you will not be able to see their cafe - not even in the main menu friends list. I try to keep my number of friends around 49. I always remove Green Cafes from my friends list and I try to keep an eye out for inactive or selfish friends. Keep this friend's limit in mind, if you are a "bad" friend you will be removed from people's friends lists.

2) Work on collecting all the different recipes, there are significant XP bonuses at various intervals. I just got a 1750 XP bonus for unlocking 175 recipes. It also adds a new element to the game that make's it even more addicting - gotta catch em' all!

3) Cook orders that your friends give you. When cooking orders for yourself, your zombies have to serve the food over time. This means that it takes FOREVER to recover the initial cost of the recipe and takes even longer to see profits. The worst part is that you will reach a earnings cap - there's a limit to the quantity of food your zombies can serve per day - even if you cook more orders, they will just pile up on your serving counter. By cooking food for your friends, you receive the profits instantly upon delivering the food. Not to mention, they will be much more likely to return the favor and cook the orders you give them.

4a) Always place an order at each friend's cafe - daily if possible. I make an effort to visit each friend's cafe every day to place orders and collect fees. Ideally you should be requesting orders of recipes you don't already have so you can unlock recipes and earn the XP bonuses.
4b) If you already have all of a friend's recipes, place a random order anyway! By placing an order at a friend's cafe you are giving the opportunity for them to make money and earn xp. I would recommend ordering a "Very Fancy" recipe that lasts for a few hours

5) If you receive a duplicate recipe from a raid, gift it to a friend that doesn't have that specific recipe yet.

Hello again, I just want to add that if you already have all of a friend's recipes and they request a time consuming dish from you, cook it for them if you've established a good relationship with them. In other words, if they've shown that if you cook a lengthy dish for them, they'll return the favor. I go ahead and cook the dish, then request their most valuable dish of equal time commitment. I then use that dish as a bribe by gifting it to one of my friends that hasn't unlocked it yet and has something I do need. A dish that they otherwise may not be willing to cook because of time committment. A dish like very fancy feditccine, for example… (more gifts are on the way ;-)). Often times I just gift dishes to friends that cook for me as a way of saying thanks, but I always make sure they haven't unlocked the dish yet to help them gain xp bonuses for unlocking dishes; and if they're anything like me, to help them along with their completionist obsessions.. I have to unlock every dish! …even tho I no longer receive xp bonuses because I've unlocked more than 250 dishes. Anyway, I'm off to scavenge! :-)

Haha, you're strategy seems very familiar :P Thanks for those 2 gifts earlier, those 2 new recipes brought me to exactly 175 to earn the bonus :) I plan to start cooking your order soon - I'm a bit backed up on long orders right now.